ABOUT FRAMESCAPE
Framescape is a non-profit community project that is supporting, educating and inspiring current and future generations of digital and technical professionals in Stoke-on-Trent.
We are committed to cultivating local talent in collaboration with private-, public- and third- sector partners, establishing The Potteries as a national and global hub for the createch industry.
What is createch?
Short for ‘creative technology’, createch is the point at which creative skills and emerging technologies converge. This burgeoning sector encompasses everything from animation, film and game development to UI/UX and marketing. Organisations operating in this space are playing a central role in the development of various cutting-edge innovations, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), 5G and others.
Createch may not fit neatly within traditional statistical categories, but the fields that comprise this sector have become increasingly important to the UK economy. In fact, the creative industries contributed more than £100 billion to national GDP in 2021, according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). What’s more, jobs in this sector are among the most highly resistant to automation, with 87% of creative workers in the UK at no or low risk.
Yet while you’ve probably heard of other sectors such as ‘fintech’, ‘edtech’ and ‘proptech’, the chances are you’re less familiar with the term ‘createch’. Framescape is here to change that.
Stoke-on-Trent’s creative heritage
Located in the heart of the UK, Stoke-on-Trent is widely acknowledged as the ceramics
capital of the world. With a pottery industry whose roots stretch back to the mid-seventeenth century, creative technologies have been shaping the city’s trajectory for hundreds of years and continue to play a pivotal role in its development.
While the area’s dependence on the ceramics sector has been in decline for several decades, household names such as Moorcroft, Spode and Wedgwood still call The Potteries home. More recently, local entrepreneurs such as Denise Coates, founder of bet365, and Carol and Kevin Shanahan, co-founders of Synectics Solutions, have established and grown hugely successful global businesses in The Potteries by embracing digital innovation.
Employment in Stoke-on-Trent’s creative and digital sector increased by 6.2% between 2019 and 2021, compared to a national average of 4.1%, accounting for approximately 9,000 local jobs. It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that the city has previously been shortlisted in the search for Channel 4’s Creative Hub and the UK City of Culture.
The role of Framescape
Like many post-industrial areas, Stoke-on-Trent faces a series of challenges related to economic, social and educational deprivation. With createch skills in high and growing demand across the UK, this sector has the potential to boost the city’s economy while driving prosperity among its local population.
Stoke-on-Trent’s further and higher education institutions are already rising to this challenge, equipping aspiring createch professionals with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in this burgeoning sector. Local employers are also helping to accelerate growth by supporting upskilling initiatives and establishing exciting new career pathways for job seekers. Framescape is working with private-, public- and third-sector entities to deliver events and services that increase access to digital skills, raise aspirations and improve how the city is perceived regionally, nationally and globally. At present, more than half of the UK’s createch companies (57%) are based in London.
Framescape is committed to levelling the playing field by supporting, educating and inspiring the people of Stoke-on-Trent to develop their creative, digital and technical skills. In doing so, we aim to enable the city’s createch community to employ more local talent and grow its share of this lucrative market. While continued political will and investment will be needed to realise the ambitions of Silicon Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent has all the fundamentals necessary to establish itself as a national and global createch hub. Framescape is committed to playing an active role in this journey by ensuring that The Potteries is not left behind. Together, we can help Stoke-on-Trent capitalise on the digital revolution, and, in doing so, empower current and future generations of createch professionals to thrive.
A growing createch community
Digital outfits and arts, entertainment and recreation (AER) firms are making sizeable and
ever-growing contributions to Stoke-on-Trent’s economy. In fact, the digital sector accounted for 10.6% of gross value added (GVA) in 2019, and with a sixfold increase in GVA since 2010, it’s growing fast. Make no mistake, the scope of this opportunity is vast. Gaming, for instance, is now the most popular form of entertainment globally in terms of revenue generated (a market value of more than £170 billion in 2022). The total number of gamers is expected to hit 1.4 billion by 2027 – and gamers need games. The worldwide app market, meanwhile, is projected to pass £530 billion within the next three years, and the AI sector is on course to expand twentyfold by 2030, reaching a value in excess of £1.5 trillion by the end of the decade. Against this backdrop, it is encouraging to see Stoke-on-Trent seize new opportunities related to digital connectivity, especially following the completion of its 70-mile, city-wide full- fibre network. In 2021, Stoke-on-Trent City Council unveiled Silicon Stoke, a strategy that aims to attract new national and international createch companies to the area. A Full-fibre Academy at Stoke-on-Trent College, a Digital Academy and a Gaming Hub are all in the pipeline thanks to this initiative, supported by £8.53 million of government funding.
While bet365’s presence looms large in Stoke-on-Trent’s createch space, plenty of other creative and digital organisations are achieving success in the local area (here are just a few of the many createch employers based in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire). As is the case in other parts of the UK, most of the city’s createch businesses are micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises. A thriving cluster of creative businesses has already developed at Spode Works, a short walk from Carse & Waterman’s headquarters in Stoke town centre. Just around the corner, Staffordshire University is continuing to invest heavily in its gaming and esports offerings – another indication that Silicon Stoke has significant long-term potential.